Maria Orozco, Karen Osmundson lead in PV school board races

WATSONVILLE -- Maria Orozco appeared headed to victory in her bid for a seat on the Pajaro Valley school board late Tuesday.

Incumbent Karen Osmundson held a slim lead over challenger Elsa Nunez in Santa Cruz County for a two-county seat. In Monterey County, where only absentee ballots had been counted, Osmundson was well ahead with more than 58 percent of the vote.

The 24-year-old Orozco, in her first electoral campaign, was leading former Watsonville Mayor Antonio Rivas, 57 to 41 percent.

Regardless of who prevails, the board, which leads a district where 80 percent of the nearly 20,000 students are Latino, will have its first Latino representative in a decade -- and possibly three Latinos.

With no opponent, 66-year-old Lupe Rivas, a retired educator, will be seated to replace Trustee Doug Keegan, who is stepping down after eight years on the board.

Nunez, 45, would make a second Latino is she is successful in unseating Osmundson, 61, who is seeking a third four-year term.

And the Orozco-Rivas duel will result in a Latino win regardless of who wins.

Ethnicity aside, the election holds the promise of an influx of local cash into schools as the district is poised to win Measure L, a $150 million school construction bond. The district's future also depends on the outcome of Proposition 30, the state's tax initiative that spells either financial stability or further reductions in a district that's slashed $18 million from its budget in recent years. The winners will help decide district priorities either way.